


Five Below Zero

by rianimare



Category: DCU (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics), The Flash (Comics)
Genre: Almost Dying, Angst and Fluff, Long Shot, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 10:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11355285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rianimare/pseuds/rianimare
Summary: Barry insisted to Hal that they should have movie nights. Perfectly normal things that friends do so that one friend can be on the up and up with media. But one time Hal comes over in the dead of winter all prepared to buckle down in blankets and watch a marathon he ends up finding an empty apartment and a not too pleasant scene a few miles away. Even the Flash can't outrun the cold once it started to slow him down.





	Five Below Zero

He always forgets how cold Central City is during winter. How no matter the number of layers you can put on underneath your jacket, the wind still manages to cut you like a knife. How the instant any bit of skin touches the outside air it turns cold and numb; fingers hard to move and nose always sniffling.

Barry always wondered how Hal could deal with the cold of space but complains about the weather the instant it gets below forty degrees in Central. He explained it before that it was because his ring kept the atmosphere around him in a liveable condition; without his ring, he’d just be a frozen husk in space.

Barry also insisted that Hal didn’t phase through his door or come flying down onto his balcony whenever he came over to visit. Instead, asking him to use the front door like a normal person would; even going as far as to give all the league members keys to his place. The speedster said it was because that’s what good friends did and if something were to happen to him he wanted to at least have someone to get into his apartment without breaking the door down or calling a locksmith.

Hal never had an apartment for long but when he did he always gave the second key to Barry.

But it was because that Barry insisted that they go through his front door like a normal person ( Hal often did not do that and instead used the balcony from time to time even if it made Barry give him a pointed look ) that makes Hal touchdown in the frozen alleyway a few blocks north of the CSI’s place.

The ring powers down as his feet hit the ground and it only takes all of five seconds for the cold to set in. Shoulders shrug; a poor attempt in pulling his leather jacket closer without using his hands which were stuffed to the brim with bags of food and beer for their ritual ‘movie night.’ Something that Barry insisted on once he started making references to movies and shows that had come out while Hal was away and the pilot had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

When Barry proposed the idea he made a joking comment of “ _What, so movie date night? Netflix and chill?_ ” and Barry’s face turned about as red as his suit. A flurry of stutters and trying to ease the subject into something he was able to deal with only made Hal realize that the blush across his best friend’s face was really cute and then immediately made the decision to never call it date night again.

Friends don’t call movie nights date nights-- what was he doing, flirting with Barry Allen?

He grumbles through the snow as he thinks that question way too long. Hal knows exactly why he was flirting with him, teasing him just to see the red cross his cheeks and turn the tips of his ears red. But he doesn’t want to acknowledge it and it didn’t even matter. Hal had no chance with Barry, he’d end up messing it up some way or another and his best friend would learn to hate him just like everyone else would. Barry was too good and deserved better; he was fine not acknowledging it and moving on.

Except he hasn’t been able to move on.

He throws curses at the wind under his breath, snow speckling his hair and freckled cheeks as his boots trudged through it. He pulled the brown bags up higher to act as a wall against the wind but it somehow still manages to cut through them. The block or so it took to walk to Barry’s place felt like an eternity of walking in an Antarctic wasteland before he finally yanked open the apartment complexes door, stomped up the stairs, and gave the door a good few knocks.

“Hey Barr-- sorry I’m late, stopped to get some beer and snacks. Figured you wouldn’t mind.” He spouted out towards the closed door, the apartment behind it unusually quiet for a speedster’s dwelling so he knocked again. This time a bit harder; maybe he just fell asleep. Barry had been known to pass out on top of case files he’d brought home from work so it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise.

But it’s a surprise when he knocks a third time and there’s not even a rustle from the other side of the door. “Barry?”  

There’s an uncomfortable feeling in Hal’s stomach. Maybe it was a hindrance to him this one time, what if he had some sort of case to deal with that popped up on the way and God--- he knew he should have texted him on the way over. At least he would have had a heads up that the lantern was en route; he shouldn’t have agreed to these movie night things. Even if they were best friends, it was probably just a burden on Barry to begin with and---

He shoves the thoughts away before they get to the , there’s a loud shuffling noise as Hal moves the food bags onto one side so that he can grab his key ring. Right hand shoving the key into the lock and opening the door with his knee before slamming it shut behind him with the side of his foot once he was in.

“Hey, Barr--? Decided to do a pit stop and grab some food for the movie th--” His words died off and whatever Hal was going to say was dead in the water. He was right, Barry wasn’t home-- and by the looks of it, he hadn’t been home for at least a day or two.  

The usually bright and warm apartment appeared cold; both literally and figuratively as it seemed the heat had been left off from whenever Barry was there last. The lights were all off, case files spread out across the coffee table that he knew Barry shouldn’t have in the first place, clothes scattered this way and that like he often left in a rush. Which was a given, Barry was the fastest man alive but that didn’t mean he didn’t keep his place clean.  

The feeling in his pit of his stomach worsened; something was wrong. Something was off. The voice in the back of his head yelling at him to power up and locate the nearest speedforce signal. Instead, all he did was walk to the kitchen to place the bags down, open the fridge, and place the beer inside. What he didn’t bother with was putting away the snacks he brought. Attention all too focused on pulling out his phone to text out a message to the scarlet speedster.

 

       **[ text: Barry Nye the Science Dork ]** Hey Barr where u at? Brought snacks. U at the lab?

        **[ text: Barry Nye the Science Dork ]** Ur place is freezing how do u live like this?

 

And then he waits and waits, and he swears the fifteen seconds that pass feel like two whole minutes before he stomps his way over to the thermostat and stares at it. Hal ends up staring it down like it’s in some form of interrogation. Watching the number fall from 58° Fahrenheit to 57° and he decides right then and there that one whole minute without a read receipt from Barry ‘Fastest Man Alive’ Allen is enough to storm his ass out of the apartment and power up.

“Ring-- give me a lock on the nearest source of speedforce energy or Barry’s locator… or anything that he has on him. Just give me something.” The tone was odd coming from him. It was desperate. Like he was afraid of what was going to be found at the end of this trail but, it didn’t stop him from slamming the door shut and donning the green and black uniform. Will propelling him off the ground and hovering high above residential rooftops as he waited… and waited… and waited…

“Can you go any faste—”

           **[ Barry Allen found - Speedforce locked on - Location nearby ]**

 

The computerized voice chimed off; an arrow popping up that blinked like it was directing him for a quest in a video game and Hal took off flying after it faster than jet he’s flown.

It didn’t take long to find Barry, his ring failed to mention that he was only a few miles away from his apartment. The ring jolting straight down once Hal flew over a new construction of a skyscraper that was being built in downtown Central. His stomach twisted; a gut feeling telling him that whatever he was about to find wasn’t going to be a good thing. Barry doesn’t hang around new construction for an obstacle course for running-- whatever it was it had to be a police thing or a Flash thing.

He was really hoping for a late night CSI thing. Which would be awkward for Green Lantern to show up, flashing light all over a murder scene that didn’t have any off world ties to it.

“Flash--” His voice was loud against the silence of the construction site; his feet hovering a few inches above the ground as green light flooded every nook and cranny.

“Hey, Flash….” Another call out. More silence.

If Barry was here for CSI work then, of course, he wouldn’t respond to Flash but… if he was here for CSI work he’d hear something. There were no voices. No police lights. No police tape. Absolut— 

Hal’s stomach never drops, his heart never skips a beat, and panic and fear is something he barely feels in the midst of battle. But turning that corner to see blood smeared down a wall to a pile of a red suit on the ground did just that.

Dread filled every fiber of his being as he took off towards his best friend. A desperate plea of “Barr-- hey, Barr please don’t… you gotta wake up. Shouldn’t you be—” His words were a mess. His thoughts were a mess. Hands gently shaking him as well as scanning his body for what the hell happened to him.

Puncture on his left shoulder, another by his right hip-- eyes darted up to spot the rebar that speared him in two spots before he vibrated? Had to vibrate. There was no way he could have got off that without—

“Barry, stay with me here.” He’s physically shaking him as hard as he can, his ring scanning for signs of life and screen of pure green pops up to show that a heart was still beating albeit all too slow for a speedster. This is his fault. If he arrived sooner whatever did this to Barry could have been stopped. He could have been there to have his back. To catch him before he got thrown onto this.

“Barr cmon buddy—” The back of his hand slaps at the sides of his face and there’s a panic edge to his voice. No response. “I’m sorry for this.” A finger jabs into the hole on his shoulder and Barry gasps for air like a fish out of water. His body immediately tensing up as a hand that moves all too slow reaches for Hal’s arm. Trying to tug and pull it away from him with whatever strength he has left.

Barry’s leg moves to get up and propel him away from Hal as fast as possible but instead, it slides back down. Not an ounce of strength left to pull him up to run. His eyes were bright and wide with panic-- fear. Like he didn’t realize who was in front of him and where he was and instead just wanted to get away. To stop whatever was happening to him.

This was only confirmed as the hoarse words of “S-stop get. Get away from me. Please don’t—” left him and Hal knows all too well that there’s only one person in the whole damn world that can make Barry Allen be afraid for his life. So he did the only thing he could do that he knows would calm himself down if he was freaking out just as bad as Barry was.

His free hand moving slowly away from his shoulder to tug off the speedster’s cowl and carefully oh so carefully puts his hand on his cheek and runs a thumb across it. Domino mask disappearing from his face as brown stared into fright-filled bright blue eyes that searched a face that should be instantly recognizable. But Barry lost a lot of blood. He got beat up. He was freezing cold with blue lips and a shiver to his body that wasn’t the normal excited vibration that was always around him and this time, Hal’s voice was slower. Calmer.

Even if every fiber of his being was full of rage and murderous intent towards Eobard Thawne.

“ Barr… it’s me, I’m not Thawne. It’s Hal-- cmon we gotta get you to the tower or—”

“N-no…” Barry cuts him off, hand falling down to the side that was once gripping Hal as he finally realizes it was a friend and not foe. “I’m f-f-f-f-fine I’ll be fine… I just gotta…. Get warm to…” He trails off again. His eyes getting that glazed over look that Hal noticed he got when he was thinking a thought a second. Panic and anger shot through him again and it was only when Hal’s hand moves his head again, thumb running across icy skin that those eyes readjusted and came back to life.

“T-thawne doesn’t want me dead… h-h-h-his M...m.o. Is to to...to torture me s-s-so… the wound will heal if I.. get.. Get warm. Home.. take… take me home.”  

Hal hesitates. The only reason Barry would be saying to take him home and not to the tower was that he didn’t want the league involved. He could get him home, dress the wounds, get him warm as fast as possible and if that didn’t work he could always call for an emergency boom tube from Vic. A plan. It was a plan.

Oh god, Hal Jordan actually had a plan for once.

“Okay, just deal with me here for a minute. Need to get you home first, moving isn’t going to be fun and you need to stay awake.”

The last part came off as a desperate plea and Barry couldn’t help but slowly blink up at Hal for a second or two. His eyebrows drawing together as he searched for something on the other’s face before a nod was given back. That’s all Hal needed before the hand that was holding his head moves to his back and the other slips underneath his legs as carefully as possible; trying to move him as little as possible at every sudden hiss of breath Barry gave.

He pulls him close and before he can bat an eye back towards the blood stain he makes a mental note to send Vic a message once they were indoors to get a cleaning crew down there and takes off towards Barry’s apartment. It doesn’t take long before his gaze ends up falling down at Barry for a split second once they were in the sky.

The wind whipped cold around them and Hal could only will the protective barrier that shielded him from the elements around his best friend.  It was hard to ignore the vibration that was shaking the body in his hands but it was almost impossibly hard to ignore the fact that Barry was leaning into him-- nose pressing against his chest. Eyes closed and breathing--

Hal jostles him, “Barry, stay awake remember? Cmon talk to me-- anything. Just babble.” and at first there was only a squeeze of the speedster’s face. An expression of pain like he’s trying to summon all his strength and will to open those heavy eyelids and Hal’s heart lurches in his chest, twists in an uncomfortable knot, and sinks to the bottom of his stomach.  

He wonders if this is how Barry felt all the time when he came knocking on his door, beaten up and barely conscious.

“Warm-- you’re really warm.” Barry murmurs.

Hal lets out a laugh, one that resembles a loud breath of air more than anything else. “Yeah, it’s cause you’re freezing. Temps gotta be below zero at this point.”

“ ‘S negative five out and it’s not…. No no-- not that…” Barry lazily cracks a grin, it tugs at the corner of his cheeks and attempts to reach his eyes but the energy isn’t there. Instead, it’s poured into the movement of his one good arm. Red fingers poking at the green at Hal’s shoulder. “Green. Your uniform….. It’s… the green on it ‘s warm…. Black not so much. ‘S cold… like space but Green….. Is. Green is hot like a star…..”

Barry’s voice falls off as his finger slides down Hal’s shoulder, down his chest, and brushes his stomach before finally coming to a rest on the scarlet speedster’s own. The action makes Hal swallow and tears his gaze away from his best friend. The word being repeated in his head over and over again along with the accompanied thought that it was because of the situation. Barry wasn’t aware of what he was doing and he won’t take that as any hints for anything, no hope. Nope.

Hal wasn’t the most hopeful lantern around. He was the williest willer to ever will and that’s what he’d do. He’d will them to Barry’s house. He’d will that the bandages stop infection, he’d will that Barry’s furnace worked, and he’d will that--

“Which… means you’re hot…..” Barry interrupts his thoughts again. A quiet laugh leaving the speedster in his arms as Hal finally got his apartment in sight.

He’s going to really need all that willpower.

—————————————————

Barry’s apartment is still cold even with the heat turned on. Hal can feel the chill of the floor through his socks as he shuffles around the bathroom. A worried look flashes towards his best friend for a split second, taking in the shivers that wracked his body. It probably wasn’t a good thing that Barry was half naked now, pajama pants and some socks the only thing that was keeping him some sort of comfort but the speedster insisted on not wearing a shirt. 

“Not till the wounds are dressed…” Barry very sleepily stated earlier. While it was evident he was slowly starting to feel better ( his words not being so disjointed and being able to actually stay sitting up without help evidence to that ) it was still an interesting affair in trying to get Barry to strip his suit off.  

At first, all Barry wanted to do was slump against the sink leaving Hal to find that damned invisible zipper which wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. He kept the remark of ‘If you wanted me to get into your pants this bad all you had to do was say something’ to himself because while yes, he has had dreams of pulling that zipper down himself--

Those dreams were usually a lot more intimate and a lot happier.

Once a heavy hand from Barry started to pull the zipper down he paused for a moment; suddenly consciously aware of Hal standing right in front of him and made a motion to give him at least a few seconds of privacy to change.  

“What-- it’s not like I haven’t seen you half naked in the locker room on the tower before.” Hal casually stated. Conveniently leaving off the fact that he tended to stare sometimes while Barry was working out but who wouldn’t stare at someone who was in such a tight forming-- 

“T-this is different just uhm… just.. Please?” There’s a sway to Barry’s step as he stands up and Hal instinctively reaches out as fast as he could to catch him. But when it was obvious he wasn’t going to fall the speedster’s gaze only catches Hal’s own. There was something in them-- anxiety? Fear? Confusion? Overthinking? He couldn’t make it out. Barry Allen could read him like an open book sometimes but when it comes to Hal reading Barry? All those years of killing his own emotions gave him the ability to hide them when the time was right.

Even if he was a shitty liar.

All it did was make Hal frustrated. A hand yanked back as he shoved it into his jean pockets. His lips drawn into a thin line. “Fine. I’m not leavin’ the bathroom though. I’ll turn around and face the door, even close my eyes but the second I hear you fall-- all bets are off.”

Barry took too long to change in Hal’s book but that probably had something to do with him not using his speed at all. It was strange waiting so long for a man who could move as faster than light but it was obvious as to why. Whispered ow’s and sucked in breaths were the only things that Hal heard while Barry changed and while he didn’t hear him falling over and knocking into anything it still made him want to turn around and help him out. Moving his shoulder and his leg was probably killing him.

But he didn’t. Not until Barry gave the go ahead which leads to their present situation: Hal hovering around the speedster with a first aid kit strewn about, his eyes catching the lightning scar that tore across his chest every once and awhile but never for long. It was awkward. It was quiet. 

It was driving Hal insane.  

He wants to say something. He wants to ask him a million questions as to why his apartment was so damn cold and why he didn’t have the heat going. He wants to apologize for being late because if he wasn’t the fight would have gone better. It would have been a team up. Two against one and even if it was Reverse Flash he could have held his own easily.

But for once Hal doesn’t say anything and neither does Barry. The loud mouth of a lantern who barely held anything back and the speedster that could endlessly babble was oddly quiet towards one another. It was odd, Hal knew, because when he showed up beaten to Sunday and back he still managed to quip things out towards his best friend to ease his worry.

But what was Hal supposed to quip now? One part of him wanted to go find the yellow piece of shit who did it and put him in a cell on OA far away from Barry and everyone close to him. The other part of him was struggling to realize that if he wasn’t there Barry would have died in the frozen construction site.  

That if for whatever reason Barry never suggested these movie nights or he was still stuck on OA or somewhere out in who the hell knows where in space, that the best damn person in his life would be gone. He would have passed away not knowing how Hal felt and all Hal would have been stuck with for the rest of his life would be terrible what-if scenarios.

“Y’know… this is the part where you say: ‘ _You should see the other guy_.’ Then I lead into that little glare you give me when I say that and then you give me my shit-eating grin.” Hal remarked; hands carefully finishing up cleaning the wounds before moving onto dressing them. Thankful doesn’t even begin to cover how much he was that the punctures had stopped bleeding and had begun to heal. No, it wasn’t thankfulness it was just pure relief.

“Ha-ha…..” Barry’s reply was slow and sleepy; like a man who just got up from a nap that was far too long. Changing out of his suit, Hal figured, must of zapped whatever energy he had left in him. He was a car running on fumes. “Would if I could… I just really want to sleep.”

He doesn’t say anything for a minute. Lips drew into a frown as he concentrated on the task at hand before piping up: “Yeah I know-- just give me one more minute and I can get you there.”

It takes another ten minutes before Hal finishes, another three minutes as Barry manages to stand up and swing an arm around his shoulders, and then another six minutes as Hal manages to shuffle them both down the hallway. Barry doesn’t make a peep or a noise of pain the whole time instead, he’s quiet. Like he’s thinking something over and Hal can only make small idle chit chat to break the silence as they move down the hall into the bedroom.

Once they were inside he carefully set Barry on his bed. Tossing the blankets aside so he could bury him in them to the point of only seeing a questioning gaze and messy blond hair.

“Still cold? I can get the blankets from the hall closet.” Which meant that he wouldn’t have one to sleep with but it didn’t do him any harm. He had his jacket and it wasn’t like he would be sleeping anytime---

A hand reaches out from the pile of blankets as Hal goes to move away and grabs his own. At first, he didn’t know what Barry wanted. Did he not want the blankets? Did he want food? He wasn’t good at this at all it was better off if he was the one hurt and Barry was the one doing the caretaking. Hell, Hal could barely take care of himself let another person half the time.

“No, I just…” He pauses to yawn or maybe it was a delaying tactic because there was an expression on Barry’s face that he couldn’t make out. Fear? Anticipation? Whatever it was his hand was still in his and it didn’t seem like he was letting go anytime soon. 

“You’re hand is cold.”

The look he got for that one was simply ‘really, Hal?’

He was pointing out the obvious, smile tugging at his lips at the lame joke. There was a pause for a second, wondering if Barry would remove his hand in embarrassment at the little tease. But his fingers stayed wrapped around his own and he couldn’t help but place his other hand on them. A slightly more devil may care attitude slipping out at the next statement. “Y’know the next best way to get warm is to share body heat. I can lay next to you if you want.” 

If he didn’t remove his hand from the first tease he would from--

The next second he was underneath that pile of blankets. His mind just a rotating loading circle as he feels Barry bury his face in his chest, his arm around his waist, his legs twisted up with his own. And then those million and one questions from earlier diverged into two million. The little whisper in the back of his head saying don’t get your hopes up. It’s just to warm him up. Platonic bro cuddles. With your bro to keep your bro warm. He wouldn’t like you Hal Jordan he’s too good for you. 

Hesitation flows through his actions. Hal Jordan: the flirter, the one-night-stander, the make out in the shady booth in the corner of the bar, can’t seem to realize that Barry was obviously okay with being this close if he made the move first. Arms glued to his sides for a moment like he was made of plastic before he realizes Barry was pushing away. A moment isn’t long for him but for a speedster? If the lights were on Hal would bet Barry’s face was as red as a tomato.

“S-sorry I just… Just… cold, y-yeah cold and tired and…” Barry is a stuttering mess next to him. Suddenly seeming all too awake and all too in a panic to nudge him away and fuck-- it’s already getting cold where Barry was pressed against him.

He doesn’t without thought, like every other action he does while in space: no thought out plan, just all action. His arm pulling Barry close again, just enough so that he could close the gap if he wanted. What was a symptom of hypothermia? Poor judgment? Hal had no excuse but Barry-- Barry would probably wake up a mess. He fully believed he’d wake up alone, Barry in the kitchen or in the shower somewhere trying to give him space and that was fine.

Because if all Barry wanted him for at the moment was for body heat then he’d let the most selfless man alive be selfish for once. 

“Just got to sleep, nerd. I won’t move till you want me too.”

The comment drew a huff of air out of Barry but there wasn’t a sound of protest. Instead, an arm fell across him again. His legs were tangled up with his once more, and Hal simply placed his chin on the top of his head. It was peaceful and suddenly he was jealous of a speedster’s abilities to stretch seconds and minutes into hours and days because of this moment right here he wants to last longer than the few minutes he’ll get before he, himself falls asleep.

“If you think I’m not gonna ask you a million questions though once we get up you better be ready for fifty questions…”

There’s a mumbled ‘mmmmhm’ and Hal can’t help but roll his eyes.

So he settles in, closing his eyes and breathing slowly-- listening to the heartbeat of the person wrapped him. Letting the stress of the night’s events slip away from as he falls under himself.

—————————————————

The first thing he feels is eyes on him.

The creepy crawling feeling on the back of your neck when you know someone’s watching you but you can’t see them.

The second thing he feels is that Barry isn’t pulled up next to him like he was the night before.

He’s still there. His knee bumping into his is evidence enough for that. But their legs aren’t twisted together, his chest isn’t pressed against his, and there’s an uncomfortable space between them that gave enough for Hal’s own arm to slip away and fall between.

A lazy eyebrow raise and a slow eye opening revealed that Barry was staring. Those sky blue eyes of his taking in every little detail of how his face was at that moment. Like he’s trying to preserve this moment in time and all it does is make his eye slip closed and give out a hum of a laugh that makes the speedster jolt. 

“Relax Barr…. Sleeping in the same bed doesn’t have to mean anything.” His voice was low and groggy; body stretching just enough for something to pop somewhere before giving a lazy grin towards his companion.

Barry Allen was a criminal, Hal Jordan decided.

It was a crime how adorable he looked in the morning with messy blond hair. It was a crime how blue his eyes looked. It was a crime how the red ran across his face and made the tips of his ears red.

And it was a crime that he was probably not going to see this picture every morning when he woke up.

“Hal I-- thanks. For last night; I uh. Well. It’s a long story.”

“If you start doing that speed babbling thing before I’ve had breakfast it’s going to be an even longer story.” 

This makes Barry pause. Giving himself one whole second before he moves to get out of bed and the minute Hal sees it he grabs his hand and pulls him back. Super healing or not; Barry was beaten to hell and left to freeze.

Besides Doctor Hal still hasn’t released the patient from his care.

“And if you think I’m gonna let you make breakfast after last night’s stunt, you’re funny. Give me like thirty minutes to sit here and enjoy this and I’ll go get a feast from Big Belly.”

“Enjoy… this…?”

That sudden realization makes Hal wake up like he was back at BMT. Panic washing across his face as he sits up, hands idly pushing through his messy brown hair.

“Y’know sleeping in a bed. Been off planet for so long kinda sucks when the beds you’re given aren’t the best.”

“Hal, I’ve literally seen you pass out on my floor when Dinah took over the guest room and  Wally took the couch.”

“That was one--”

“I can name three other occasions.”

“That was only four times.”

Barry sighs and he knows the conversation isn’t over yet. It’s all too obvious when Hal catches him sitting up. The blanket falling from his shoulders to reveal his torso.

Another crime added: Barry Allen’s stupid abs. 

“Is there something you’re not--”

“Does it still hurt?” Hal interrupts him. Half because he was genuinely concerned and the other half because he doesn’t know now if he could look at Barry in the eye and tell him that he’s not hiding anything. But the speedster is all too quick to pivot the conversation back to him.

“It stings but I can move. Get some food in a bit and I’ll be back to one hundred percent but you-- what’s wrong Hal?”

“Could ask you the same damn question.” He bites back. “You knew I was coming why the hell did you go out to fight him alone? I could have had your back, Barry. ” The minute those words left his mouth he instantly grew to regret it.

The only way to describe Barry’s face, Hal realized, was that it looked like a dog that was caught doing something he shouldn’t have been doing. Teeth biting on bottom lip ( not out of lust, Hal noted, but out of being caught in the act ), eyes darting down to avoid his own while fingers played idly with the blanket on top of him.

“Cause you… you wouldn’t have been able to help, Hal.” 

The statement is like a super speed punch to his ego but he brushes it off; focusing instead on the growing horror that is slowly spreading across the anxious features of his best friend’s face.

“What about Wally…. Or your new Kid Flash, Wally? Hell even both of them? What about the whole damn LEAGUE, Barry? What’s the point of even bothering to have friends if you won’t call on us to help you?”

“Because….because he’ll kill you all.” That was the breaking point and Hal regrets now more than ever about pressing the subject. Those last three words making his heart once against twist up at the image of anguish and horrific realization on the other’s face.

“Y-you think that I didn’t think about it all? Have both Wally’s back me up in a fight? They’re not… I’m not… none of us are fast enough. No one on the league could fight him. Batman? No. Superman? I let him win those races for charity… I can’t let him fight that-- that mad man. I can’t let anyone of you-- I don’t want.. I don’t want anyone else to die because some psycho wants to torture me for the rest of my life.”

His words are a mixture of speed and slow and Hal knows all too well that he’s thought about this all too much. How he’s probably sat there in his lab going over case file over case file hoping that every inch of his brain would be consumed by the data in it but a little piece of himself was focused elsewhere. How he probably had nightmares or zoned out. Thinking up horror filled scenarios of what could be all because some asshole in a yellow suit decided that he needed to be miserable. 

“What do you think, that we’re made of paper, Barry? Newsflash but this job that we signed up for is dangerous. The risk of being killed is so high up there I can’t even fathom how we’re still alive day in and day out with what we face but here we are.” He snaps, and he knows oh god he knows that he should be calmer about this. His words should be nicer and more comforting but instead, they were harsh. Hurt. Angry not because Barry decided to take on this endeavor alone like he always did but because they weren’t having this conversation sooner. 

That it took Hal to see Barry lying on the cold, snow covered ground that was stained red to get him to throw himself into action.

“Hal I--”

“Barry, we care about you. Hell I care about you more than you’ll ever know and I’m sure as hell not going to lose you to some psycho dressed in a mustard yell-ophfm--”

To say the that fastest man alive can kiss as fast as he could run was an understatement. What was also an understatement was how he under guessed on how much he’d like kissing Barry.

All Hal managed to see was Barry looking away at first. Ashamed of the lecture he was being given, then a split second of confusion, realization, and the next all Hal knows is that Barry is wrapping an arm around his waist tugging him as close as possible without being seated in his lap. The other arm reaching up to card through his hair slow and deliberate. Which only gained a pleasing sound which bubbled up from his chest.

He wants to think that Barry kissed like he ran but there was something off about this one. It was as if he was trying to convey something through this action alone and Hal can’t help but push into it. To let his eyes slide fully shut, to run fingers through blond hair before resting at the back of his neck. While the other found the edge of his shirt and twisted themselves into the fabric to find some sort of grounding.

And all like that before Hal could even explore-- could even pinpoint the feeling that was crawling up his nerves or make Barry pull away breathless the kiss was over. Insufferably short and sweet and a groan of displeasure leaving him as Barry rests his forehead against his own.

“That---” He begins. “That is why I can’t lose you…”

“Then let me explain why I can’t lose you too....” Is the only thing Hal manages to say before he’s pushing Barry down back into the bed, lips crashing against the others into a desperate kiss.

Hands finding purchase in hair and on his chest. Hal wouldn’t say that he’s exactly straddling him but there’s a good portion of himself laying on top of Barry, his thigh pushing his legs apart as he tried with all of his might to close whatever gap was between them. 

Whatever was holding Barry back the first time was gone-- and by God, Hal didn’t know that he had an electricity kink until he felt shocks run down his spine as the speedster grabbed for some kind of purchase. His hands easily finding the hair at the back of his neck and the small of his back. That very hand tugging at his hair as Hal can’t help but bite down on Barry’s lower lip which only draws a gasp from him.

A thunderstorm, he decided, was what Barry was like. He smelled like a calm downpour, the one that ruined someone’s plans outside but made it perfect to nap the day away. His movements were a bit too fast, like a quick lightning strike as it flashed across the sky before it went away. And the heat from his body radiating off of him like how humidity drowned someone right before the storm let loose.

There’s a muted chuckle from Hal as he moves away just enough to catch his breath for a split second before it’s stolen away. Barry closing that small one-inch gap between their lips as the kiss turned messy, uncoordinated, but just as passionate from before. His hand dipping below the fabric of Hal’s shirt to grab at the skin and that was when the electricity was the worst and the best. Every nerve stimulated at once only drove a quiet moan from him which was greedily caught by the man causing it; every ounce of will in his body focused on not rolling his hips so he could have more.

Hal easily decided that he would gladly drown in this.

They only break apart to half let Barry catch his breath and half because Hal knows if he continues he’ll want more than just this make out session. So instead he flops to the side of his best friend-boyfriend-this-is-confusing-friend and pulls him in so he can close those last few inches and spoon him. Their hips slotting together all too perfectly before Hal can even give out a pleased sigh, his chin once against resting on top of the blond’s head.

“That… hopefully gets the point across?” He murmurs, fingers drawing slow circles on Barry’s arm.

“Mmm--” Barry begins and Hal feels fingers lacing themselves together; his hips twisting just enough so that he can stare up at him with a look that makes Hal feel for once in his life that he’s actually worth something to someone and not just some reckless piece of shit who will ruin everything. “Yeah…. I think it got the point across.”

He opens his mouth to say something but can only pause. The kissing was good, very good. More than likely Hal can become addicted to those electric kisses as each day passed by but kissing and cuddling afterward never really meant that two people were together. Not in this day in age-- no and Hal’s track record with even being in a relationship was on a losing streak--

But for Barry?

Yeah, he’d try his damnedest for Barry.

“If you want, we could… try this out. Be each other’s boyfriends… I mean.” It was awkward saying it. Not because Hal didn’t want to say it but because he has never proposed the idea to someone. Relationships just happened and then didn’t happen to him there was no formal question, no formal ask out phase.

One second he’s at the bar the next he was on Carol’s bed and then the next he was kicked out. That’s always how it went.

“I’d like that and as our first act as a couple-- we should sleep in longer.” The suggestion was more of a fact as Barry snickers to himself and rolls over, squirming just enough to get himself comfy again as Hal can’t help but roll his eyes and mutter ‘ _Nerd_ ’.

“But I’m _your_ nerd.”

And he wants to roll his eyes so damn hard at that but it only draws a big goofy grin on his face. The thought making his heart soar like the first time he went flying; his nose now buried in the soft strands of blond hair. Any questions he had left would be saved for later, he decided. The warmth of Barry against him and the feel of his rapid heartbeat against his own was enough to draw him back into a wave of sleepiness.

Eyelids grew heavy, his breathing slowed-- and his final thought was that yeah, he could get used to this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there this was my first fic so I hope it sounds okay? I worked wayyyyy to long on it oop. There's probably some errors I missed when rereading it ( cause you can only read something you wrote for so long before it blends together and sounds fine ) and some parts I should rewrite down the road but eh, for another day. I am accepting prompts if you're interested c: thawnne.tumblr.com is my tumblr.


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